


Fresher's Fate And Phallic Display

by itsoktobemarty



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - University, Blow Jobs, Bottom!Harry, Dirty Talk, Drinking, Fluff and Smut, Hair-pulling, Jokes, M/M, Pining, Unresolved Sexual Tension, braided!Harry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-28
Updated: 2014-12-28
Packaged: 2018-03-01 14:46:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 16,875
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2776991
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/itsoktobemarty/pseuds/itsoktobemarty
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Hey Louis, how do you call chromosomes when they're close?"</p>
<p>"Why are we talking about science... Let me think about it... Homologous?"</p>
<p>"Nope." Harry already had his trademark grin in place. "Bromosomes."</p>
<p>The inevitable slap hit Harry straight in the stomach, making him double over with a gasp.</p>
<p>"Your jokes are horrible, as anyone ever told you that, dudepal?"</p>
<p>"Filthy lies," wheezed Harry, regaining his breath.</p>
<p>"Well if you're quite finished, there's a movie waiting for us!" Louis declared, quickening his pace.</p>
<p>"Yes, your Highness."</p>
<p>Louis turned around and winked, the bastard. Just friends, Harry repeated in his head like a mantra, just friends.</p>
<p>***<br/>In which Harry met Louis at Fresher's Fair and fell for him hard, just to discover that he's already got a boyfriend. His only weapons are his charm, Zayn's bright ideas and an endless arsenal of bad jokes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fresher's Fate And Phallic Display

**Author's Note:**

  * For [littlepinkbow](https://archiveofourown.org/users/littlepinkbow/gifts).



> Hi! This is my submission for the HL Uni Exchange, for a prompt that asked for Louis having a boyfriend and Harry meeting him at Fresher's Fair and winning him with terrible jokes~  
> It started as a fun 5k idea, then quickly spiralled into three times that!  
> I hope you'll enjoy~  
> PS I'm beta-less, any errors are mine  
> EDIT: Now the italics are working!  
> EDIT 2: There is now a Polish translation! How cool is that? Find it [here♥](http://howpussyharold.tumblr.com/post/110361263256/freshers-fate-and-phallic-display-zapowiedz)

 

Harry thought it was going to be so much worse. He was expecting an asshole roommate, burocracy errors, never-ending queues and rude and judgemental older students. Yes, he was definitely nervous about moving to London for Uni, especially since none of his high school friends had chosen the same Uni. 

Instead, everything was going according to plan: he was enrolled, had all the necessary papers, a badge, and a room key. His mum was coming during the weekend to bring him all his stuff, and he had already met his "Dorm Rep", a nice girl that gave him a map and the Fresher's Fair plan. Now to discover the roommate! Harry crossed his fingers before sliding the key, hoping that his lucky streak would continue. The only thing he knew about his roommate is that he was a guy and a second year. This means he might not even be on campus yet. 

He entered the room nervously, and remained speechless: every square centimeter of wall was covered with drawings, doodles, paintings and spray paint art. Someone, almost certainly his mysterious roommate, was hanging clothes in the closet, headphones in. The guy had raven hair, a slender frame, and was wearing a leather jacket and black jeans. 

"Hi!" greeted Harry, hoping to make a nice first impression. 

The boy was startled, and turned around with an accusing stare, and all right, there was an evolutionary success over there, artsy roommate was really hot. 

"Hey, uhm, I'm Harry," he stammered a bit under that piercing stare, "I'm you new roommate?" it came out as a question, but his Calvin Klein model of a roommate smiled, and took off his headphones. 

"Oh, nice to meet you! I'm Zayn, I study Art." he replied easily, the bad boy attitude immediately gone. He dropped the shirt that he was holding and came to greet Harry properly.

"Oh, so are these all yours? They're amazing! I do Biology." Harry almost proclaimed it, smiling widely. 

"Ah, why are first years always so eager to start..." Zayn trailed off, then moved to take his stuff away from Harry's side of the room. 

While unpacking, Harry made some light conversation, but also understood that Zayn was a quiet person. He learnt that he usually had lectures in the afternoon, and didn't want to be woken up at any cost. He also explained that it was really uncommon for second or third years to be allowed to remain on campus, but that he was so accustomed to draw in that room that his Advisor interceded. 

"By the way, you should definitely go to Fresher's Fair this Wednesday. It's a great way to meet people and find out what the Student Union does." Zayn advised, sounding exactly like someone who'd never go to the Fair. "Also, you should join your faculty's society."

"Are you going?" Harry asked, hoping to have someone to guide him. 

"I have to. I'm making posters for a friend in the football team, and I'm vice-president of the Art Society." Zayn replied, monotone.

"Oh, cool! We'll go together!"

***

"How do I look?" 

"Like a super sexy cheerleader, El! I've said it a million times, if I liked girls, you'd be the one!" Louis winked and handed her a bunch of flyers advertising the Welcome Back party. 

Louis never understood why all the sports societies  _had_  to stay in the same room. It was crowded, and loud, and the only way to stand out was with colourful posters or scantily clothed cheerleaders, but luckily the football team had both. They were just waiting for Zayn to show up with the posters.

The stand was managed by him and Niall for the first half of the day, and it was usually the worst: confused and hopeless freshers wandering about, looking at them with wide eyes. Louis was already a third year, so the novelty of university had worn off a long time ago. 

Bored by the consistent lack of Niall at the stand (the guy went off to get coffees), Louis pulled out his phone and opened a game, ignoring his surroundings. 

***

Harry was feeling like a child at an amusement park. He was trying to look at everything at the same time, and Zayn had gotten a hold of his arm to avoid losing him in the crowd. It was still relatively early morning, but the fair was animated. There were colorful stands everywhere and people giving away discount coupons and hyperkinetic cheerleaders running around with pom-pons and flyers and even a smoothie stand that Harry  _definitely_  wanted to try. 

"Oh, can we get a smoothie?" he pleaded with a huge innocent grin. 

Zayn looked at the wad of rolled posters that he was carrying, then at the crowd around the stand, then at Harry, and raised an eyebrow. 

"All right, we'll get it after you deliver the posters."

Zayn nodded, then quickly made his way through the crowd, ignoring the stands, to walk into another room. There, the stands were a little bit different: all sported the Uni logo, and the boys and girls taking care of them were in uniforms, most of them with the same colour pattern. The sports hall. Zayn walked towards one of the bigger stands, with photos of the football team. But Harry wasn't looking at the photos. 

The horse-riding team could have brought horses into the room and Harry wouldn't notice. He was too preoccupied staring at the beautiful boy behind the desk. He had lively blue eyes, messy chestnut hair just on the verge of too long, and a curvy body that was making Harry's mouth water. The boy was wearing the football team uniform, and a band on his arm identified him as captain. 

Zayn's arrival made the boy flash a devastatingly sexy grin and put away his phone to take the posters off Zayn's hands.

"Ah, how many did you make? It's incredible!" 

Harry coughed with nonchalance, hoping to be introduced. He also hoped that the starry-eyed look was gone. Judging by Zayn's chuckle, it wasn't. 

"Louis, this is Harry, my roommate. Harry, this is Louis."

Was it an impression, or Louis' eyes had scanned Harry's body for a second, before he smiled at him, and said: "Oh, nice to meet the poor soul that will have to live with this one! What do you study?" 

Harry laughed at Zayn's affronted glare, then replied: "Oh, Biology!" 

Louis nodded, and it looked like he was going to say something but something blonde suddenly blocked his line of sight and assaulted Zayn with a pleased yell.

The  _something_  was an enthusiastic guy in the football uniform that had managed to tackle Zayn while holding two cups of coffee.

"Zayn! It's so good to see you, man! How was summer? You need to tell me everything! Here, want some coffee?" 

" _Excuse me_?" came Louis' petulant voice. "Wasn't that supposed to be my coffee?" 

The blond just waved a hand in dismissal. "Go get some, I'll hang the posters with Z."

"I could get some." the words were out before Harry could even think. He didn't even know where the coffee shop was, for God's sake! "I mean, I don't really kn-" 

"Cool, let's go then, leave Niall to his destiny with stuttering freshers! No offence." Louis interrupted, and shoved a handful of posters in the blonde's hands. "Also, Curly, you probably need someone to show you around campus, and you'd better not rely on Zayn for that!"

***

Louis was funny and witty and nice, and Harry was probably drooling in his hazelnut latte ("God, Curly, and they say  _I'm_  girly!"). They were having such a nice time, just walking around Fresher's Fair, and he had already learnt that Louis was an Economics third year from Doncaster, and liked football, music, and most importantly, boys ("Came out last year, it was madness for about a month, I had to score three goals in the same game to make them forget about it!"). They had been stopped by cheerleaders and other team members and students in general, and they all wanted to say hello to Louis or ask about the team, which led Harry to think that Louis was quite popular. Which, unfortunately, meant that Harry had to find a way to make a good impression, or Louis would just forget about him. 

"So, Louis," he started, hoping for the best. The blue-eyed boy turner to him with an amused smile. "why couldn't the French man see the snails in his plate?" 

Louis' smile grew. "I don't know Harry, why couldn't the French man see the snails in his plate?" 

"Because they were  _escar_ -gone!" Harry exclaimed, and promptly burst into a fit of laughter. Louis snorted, like he was trying not to laugh, but there were lovely crinkles by his eyes. 

"That was terrible, Harold." he stated. "That was definitely the worst pun that I've ever heard."

"Oh, I disagree." Harry replied, mischievous grin still in place. "I'm pretty sure..." he paused for dramatic effect.

"Harold, I swear to God..."

"I  _snailed_  it!" 

Louis swatted him. 

***

"Welcome Afterparty? What is that?" 

Harry was on the phone while waiting for his parents to arrive. Louis had called him quite early for a Saturday morning, apparently to tell him that he forgot to invite him to a special party. But Harry already knew that the Students Union was throwing a big party that evening. Zayn had told him right after the first day of Fresher's Fair. 

Speaking of which, Harry was still high on how much Louis he'd got during those two days. After the coffee plus tour on Wednesday, they also hung out on the following day, during which Harry finally had his smoothie and Louis won a stuffed eagle knocking down pins. The eagle was now on Harry's desk, since Louis had declared that it was "too American" for him. Harry had swooned. He was developing quote a strong crush, and all in two days! But he couldn't help but wanting to know Louis better. And maybe kiss him. And  _maybe_  suck his cock. 

Anyway, the Afterparty. 

"It's, as you can guess, after the official Welcome Party, but it's not on campus, the Student Union usually rents a club's room."

"Oh! I didn't see it on the Fair timetable! It just says that the party will be over at two..."

"Of course, Harold," Louis replied, and Harry could easily imagine his teasing smirk. "It's not meant for goofy first years! But we'll make an exception for your lovely dimples!"

Harry was thankful that Louis couldn't see him, because he was blushing like a thirteen-year-old. He murmured some kind of thank you, then had to hang up because his step-father's car had appeared down the road. 

***

Zayn had seen his outfit decision and had snorted, elbowing him away from the dresser and taking control of it. Now, Harry's outfit consisted of a black dress shirt that was thin enough to show his tattoos even while closed (not that it mattered, since he had it all undone except for the last three buttons) and black jeans of the tightest kind. He completed the outfit with a cream headscarf and took a glance in the mirror: damn, that was sexy. Of course, he would be standing next to Zayn, so he wasn't sure people were even going to  _look_  at him, but maybe Louis would. 

The party was tame, compared to the crazy ones he went to in high school, the ones organised in the rich kids' houses. But it was nice nonetheless, and Harry met many students from his year, and Niall and Louis were there. And oh,  _Louis_. It was like he'd decided to drive Harry crazy. Until then, he had only worn his football uniform, which did compliment him, but Harry wasn't ready to see him in  _tight_  clothes. 

His brain went on a immediate system failure while he took in Louis' legs, thighs and  _ass_. Now Harry wasn't an ass type of guy, but there, he stood converted. 

"Please stop undressing Louis with your eyes." Zayn murmured, and mimicked cleaning some drool. 

"I wasn't... I'm not... Uhm." Harry's brain failed him. Thankfully Zayn only pushed a bright orange cocktail in his hands and chose not to tease him anymore. 

The room didn't have an actual dancefloor, just a bar area, some sofas and speakers blasting dance music. People were dancing anyway, thankfully not Louis (Harry's not sure he could have handled it), standing next to Niall and a girl that Harry recognized as one of the cheerleaders. He and Zayn joined them, Niall ordered a round of shots, and for a second, Harry caught Louis' eyes pausing at his swallow tattoos peaking out of his shirt. 

The party went on, with a couple of speeches from the Student Union welcoming all the first years brave enough to come to a party in their orientation week. Harry cheered along with everyone else, and felt very lucky to already have somewhat of a group of friends. 

After a while, Louis stopped drinking, claiming to need to remain sober enough to guide everyone to the club later, and Zayn left "with important matters to attend to". 

When he came back, Harry had just realized that he took one shot too many. He knew that for sure because he was staring at Louis' lovely blue eyes and didn't feel like a perv. Louis was laughing for some reason, and it was like angels chiding bells (do angels actually chime bells and play the harp, Harry wondered) and Harry wanted to be the one causing that beautiful sound. 

"Louis, did you know that if you put a goldfish in a Powerade drink, it changes sex?" 

Louis turned to stare at him for a second, then erupted in a fit of laughter. Harry laughed with him, pleased with himself. Only after that he noticed that there was a boy next to Zayn. Muscly, with short brown hair and puppy eyes. Harry vaguely recalled meeting him, he was one of Louis' teammates. Zayn was looking at him the way a tiger does with its prey.  _Oh_. 

"It's twenty to two, should we get going?" asked the new guy, looking a bit uncomfortable on the receiving end of that stare. He turned to Harry. "You're Harry, right? Louis said you were coming. I'm Liam."

Harry nodded enthusiastically, eyes now going a bit out of focus. 

***

The way to the club passed in a blur. Zayn had to do a full body search to find Harry's Oyster card, then Louis bought Powerade and made him drink it only to then grope him to check if he had tits, if he swapped gender like the goldfish. The at some point Niall convinced an old lady to sing an Irish song with him on the tube. 

Somehow, they made it to the club, where the party was in full swing. There, Harry was asked for ID, and there was another invasive body search, and Liam worried about his age. After it was confirmed that he was actually eighteen, they all ordered celebratory shots. Harry really really wasn't planning on drinking more, but Louis pushed something green in front of his mouth, and he just  _had_  to open wide and let him pour the alcohol down his throat. 

Harry was feeling like he was drunk enough to ask Louis to dance, but before he could ask Niall appeared, pulling him away and towards the dancefloor. A girl was pushed in his arms, and Harry panicked for a second, and hurried to tell her he wasn't interested, as coherently as his state of intoxication allowed. She just laughed and pulled him close. 

Harry managed to escape Niall and his flock of girls after what seemed hours. He was feeling a bit more sober now, and could easily get back to their table. There, Louis was talking with a guy. Harry was pretty sure he hadn't been introduced to him. Unfortunately, Louis had the lethal combination of being extremely hot  _and_  popular, so it was common to find him surrounded by boys. Harry decided it wouldn't hurt to get there and introduce himself. And reassert his claim. All right, that was a bit too animalistic. 

He also noticed that Zayn and Liam were nowhere to be seen. Good for them. Al least they were getting some. 

Harry waltzed to the table (maybe he wasn't  _completely_  sober, all right) and cringed internally when he noticed that the guy had an arm around Louis' waist. 

"Oh, Haz, there you are! I've seen your dance moves, baby deer!" Louis called, and the boy chuckled, resting his chin on Louis' shoulder. Not good. 

"Yeah, Niall kidnapped me..." Harry explained lamely, embarrassed and at the same time still preening at the nickname. "And uh, nice to meet you?" It came out like a question. 

"Oh yes, Louis told me about you, mate! I had work so no Fresher's Fair for me, it's a miracle I made it to the Afterparty!" That, Harry thought, was a lot of unnecessary information, and didn't explain his relationship with Louis. 

"Nice to meet you, I'm Randy. Louis' boyfriend." 

It took a couple of seconds to register in Harry's mind.  _Boyfriend_.  _Shit_. Suddenly his drinks were incredibly present in his stomach, and he felt a wave of nausea. His mouth was dry, like he'd just swallowed sandpaper. 

"Oh." he managed to say, voice unsteady. Louis was now looking at him with worry. 

"Harry, are you alright? You look pale..." 

Harry felt like he was going to be sick. "Can... Can you get Zayn? I think I need to go home."

"Sure. Randy, please keep an eye on him." Louis instructed, and Harry was left with the boyfriend. That definitely didn't help his nausea. 

"Shit mate, I think you had too much. Niall probably forgot you're like, barely legal!" Randy joked, and wasn't that just a painful remainder of how different he and Louis were? He didn't even try to reply, and Randy took it as a sign that he was too sick to do it. 

Finally, Louis came back, with Zayn and Liam in tow. They had water, and Harry drank half of the bottle immediately, taking a step away from Randy. 

"All right Styles, time to take you home." Zayn declared, and he and Liam got on Harry's sides to support him. "Say good night to Lou and Randy." Zayn joked. Harry mumbled his goodbye, and an apology for putting an early end to Liam and Zayn's night. 

"It's fine Harry, really. I'll just crash at yours for the night." Liam shrugged, and Harry felt Zayn's sharp intake of breath. 

***

When they got to the room, Harry was feeling marginally better, and was quite sure he wasn't going to vomit. He was, however, still shocked, and just wanted to curl in bed, maybe cry a little while he could blame the alcohol, and sleep for one or two eternities. Zayn and Liam undressed him in the most platonic way existent, and he fell asleep almost immediately, lulled by Zayn and Liam murmuring in the bed next to him (probably undressing each other in the least platonic way possible). 

When he woke up, he felt like someone was using a jackhammer in his brain. His mouth tasted like death, and it took some time to orient himself. Once he spotted Zayn, uncharacteristically up and with tea, he made a pained sound, trying to convince his brain to ask for water. 

"Oh, you're awake. Let me get you some water and aspirin, you definitely need it. You were distraught last night, what happened?" 

_Oh right_. Louis' fucking boyfriend. Harry could feel his headache getting worse just thinking about it. He didn't even remember the guy's face, just his name, Randy. 

"Louis has a boyfriend." he moaned, accepting the medicine. Zayn seemed surprised. 

"Wait, didn't you know?" 

"No, why would you think that? If I'd known, I wouldn't have... Well..." 

"Flirted with Louis?" Zayn concluded for him. "Well, it wasn't my place to say anything but I thought you two knew what you were doing." 

It took a while for Harry's suffering brain to understand what Zayn meant. "You thought Louis was cheating on Randy with me?! Wait, does that mean you thought Louis was flirting back?!" 

"Maybe? Look, I don't know much about his relationship, just that sometimes they're like a married couple and other times it's the Cold War. You should ask Niall."

Harry had a sudden flash of hope, but he mentally stomped on it. He wasn't going to try to steal Louis form Randy, or to make him cheat! That just wasn't him. He simply had to forget about his crush and move on. Him and Louis were just going to be friends. 

"No, it's fine. Well maybe not fine. Louis is taken, and it sucks, but we can still be friends."

Zayn casted him a look that was a lot like disbelief. 

***

"...so the centrifuge burst through  _the wall_  and landed on the hedgerow!" Harry concluded, and to that point both he and Louis were laughing like maniacs. "This is why we have that sign in our lab." 

"Oh my God, you evil scientists..."

Harry and Louis were an a (100% platonic) ice-cream and cinema date. Louis was supposed to go and see Guardians Of The Galaxy with his fellow nerd Liam, but he had had a sudden essay to write, and Harry had been Louis' second choice. Everything was going amazingly, but he couldn't help but ask: "Why didn't you ask Randy?"

Two weeks had passed since the beginning of the semester, since that horrible discovery at the Afterparty. During that period, Harry had learnt that Louis and Randy had been together for a little over two years, but still lived separately and that generally they weren't a clingy couple.

"Oh, he doesn't like superheroes at all. I'm still trying to convert him, but so far he's doing a better job at convincing me to watch Project Runaway." Louis dismissed. 

"Well, I can easily see you in one of the gowns." Harry commented. "Proper queen." Was that flirting? Too far?

"Oi! Don't underestimate my curves!" Louis retorted, shaking his hips to add emphasis. That was maybe a bit too close to flirting.  Harry just rolled his eyes and went for a "Seriously, mate..." hoping to sound uninterested, when instead he was trying not to ogle Louis' ass. 

Louis just snorted, clearly amused. "Oh, too much action for you,  _bro_?" 

That gave Harry an idea. "Hey Louis, how do you call chromosomes when they're close?"

"Why are we talking about science... Let me think about it... Homologous?"

"Nope." Harry already had his trademark grin in place. " _Bromosomes_."

The inevitable slap hit Harry straight in the stomach, making him double over with a gasp. 

"Your jokes are horrible, as anyone ever told you that,  _dudepal_?" 

"Filthy lies," wheezed Harry, regaining his breath. 

"Well if you're quite finished, there's a movie waiting for us!" Louis declared, quickening his pace.

"Yes, your Highness."

Louis turned around and  _winked_ , the bastard.  _Just friends_ , Harry repeated in his head like a mantra,  _just friends_.

***

"I should have  _never_  taken you to see Guardians." Louis stated for the seventh time in ten minutes. 

"I am Groot." Harry confirmed happily, without looking away from his textbook. 

"Guys, no spoilers!" Liam repeated for the seventh time in ten minutes.

"Liam, don't move your mouth while I'm drawing it." Zayn reprimanded, erasing part of his sketch. 

"Yes Liam, just shut your trap and take your sorry ass to see Guardians!" Niall emphasised, arriving with a tray of coffees. 

Louis scooted close to Harry to make space for him, pressing up against the boy. If Harry was feeling a bit overheated with Louis' thighs on him, no one had to know. 

It turned out that the just friends thing was harder that it looked. Especially since Louis was an incredibly tactile person. He tugged on Harry's curls to get his attention, he poked his dimples when he smiled, he tickled and hugged and slapped and  _touched_. Harry usually ended up in sensory overload. And this situation wasn't different: Louis was resting his head on Harry's shoulder, one hand lazily going through his book and the other tapping on his calf. 

"Ugh, this is so boring! Why does Zayn get to draw his boyfriend for coursework but I have to memorise roman laws?" Louis moaned after an incredibly short studying period. 

"Oh, but do you know how the Roman Empire was cut in half?" Harry asked, perking up from his book. Zayn rolled his eyes preemptively. Louis instead turned an amused smirk to him. 

"No Harry, I don't know, but I'm not sure I want to know either."

"With a pair of  _Caesars_! Ha!"

Louis groaned, burying his head in his hands in mock-despair. "Please, say something smart about your field of I'll assume you're a seven-year-old!"

"A blue whale's penis is eight feet long." Harry stated, completely serious. 

Louis shoved him against Liam, ruining Zayn's pose. 

After Zayn threatened to vivisect both of them and Niall demanded photographic proof of Harry's statement, a resemblance of study was succeeded. Harry managed to organise his notes, and impossible molecular structures distracted him from Louis' body, now halfway in his lap. 

"All right, Liam I hope you're done, because we have training in fifteen!" Niall declared. "And guys, I expect both of you at our game on Friday! We're going to humiliate King's!"

***

Harry was wearing the Uni jumper, which had Zayn threaten to disown him as a friend. But hey, Harry was feeling  _very_  supportive of the football team. And its captain. And the captain's dick. Anyway.

The game was taking place in a football's field near King's College, and someone had wisely divided the stands between the two universities. Harry felt incredibly important when Zayn ignored the bleachers for the moment, and went straight for the changing rooms. Some students were around, one of them with a camera. Harry didn't exactly think about what Zayn was doing, but he definitely didn't expect him to just carelessly open the door of the male changing room. 

Harry felt everyone's eyes on him. It probably wasn't true, but a good number of players from both teams  _was_  surprised to see two outsiders just bust in. However, Harry worried about that for less than half a second, then his eyes zeroed on Louis, currently shirtless and displaying an impressive collection of tattoos. Unfortunately for him, Louis was also one of those who turned to see them coming in, and he gave Harry a pleased grin as soon as he noticed the boy's appreciative stare. 

Feeling the blood rush to his face, Harry immediately casted his eyes down, but the mental image of Louis' collarbones and  _happy trail_ was still finely carved in his memory. His embarrassment increased when he realised that he was blushing in a room full of unknown football players. He was  _so_  going to get kicked out. 

"Oh, what a pleasant surprise!" Louis told Zayn, confident smirk still in place. "Here to wish Liam good luck?"

Zayn just showed him his tongue and made his way towards Liam, who was already fully dressed and smiling sweetly at the surprise. 

"So Curly, do you have anything inspiring to say before the match?" Louis asked, demanding and condescending at the same time. 

"Ah, uhm..." Harry stuttered, still distracted by Louis' pecs. "Put it in?" 

Louis' laugh was generally lost among the chatter in the room, but Harry's face threatened to split with the force of his smile. 

"All right, you menace, now get the hell out of my locker room!"

***

Harry was pretty sure his eyes were going to fall off any minute now with how much he was staring at Louis during warm-up. 

"Here, have some of my Coke." Zayn offered. "You look thirsty as hell." 

Harry pouted, then promptly groaned loudly when Louis squatted down. That was straight up  _obscene_. 

"What happened to we're just friends?"

"My mind knows that." Harry sighed. "The rest of my body is still catching up." 

"That's nice, but try to wipe out the heart-eyes before Randy arrives. I'm pretty sure he wouldn't like you directing lame innuendos at his boyfriend." 

Harry sighed again, slumping in his uncomfortable plastic seat. 

Unwanted crushes aside, the match  proved to be very entertaining. Liam was a good player, and Niall as well when he wasn't flirting with the cheerleaders or throwing incomprehensible Irish insults to the other team. And Louis seemed so happy on the field, running around, having fun with his teammates and enjoying his favourite sport. And he was also quite talented! Harry might not be a great player, but he liked football, and could recognize that Louis was an inch better that most college players. 

Harry spotted Randy after a while, when he was finally able to tear his eyes from Louis and his inhuman ability to make football uniforms look saucy. The boyfriend, as Harry called him in his mind, was cheering from the sidelines, next to the cheerleaders, and that was just unnecessary favoritism. Why wasn't Harry right there on the field, ready to offer Louis a high five or even a hug to celebrate? 

"And anyway," Harry said out loud, following his train of thoughts, "Why aren't you over there to cheer Liam?"

Zayn threw him a look, perfectly aware of the real reason behind his question. "Because I don't want to spend ninety plus minutes standing up next to sweaty strangers and over enthusiastic cheerleaders." 

"Oh. You have a point, I guess. Still..." Harry pouted a little, saddening as he always did when confronted to the fact that his crush was impossible. 

"You know, we could get down for the second half, if you want." Zayn offered. 

"Thanks, but not with Randy there." the idea of Randy noticing his (quite obvious crush) was terrifying. What if he told Louis to stay away from him? What if Louis  _listened_?

Zayn made a face like he was going to comment on his decision, but then Niall scored, and they both got caught up in the match. 

***

After the game, Zayn and Harry joined Louis, Liam, Niall, Randy and three of the cheerleaders for a quick dinner in a Chinese place. Harry made sure to sit as far from Randy and Louis as possible, and found himself among the cheerleaders. Everyone was pumped after the victory: Niall had ordered cheap Chinese beer for everyone, Zayn had somehow ended up in Liam's lap, and Randy was entertaining Louis with something about Chinese dynasties. Right, his field was History. 

Trying to distract himself from Randy's presence, Harry focused on getting to know the girls. He had already met Eleanor, one of Louis' best friends. She was very pretty and aware of it, and apparently knew everything about everyone. 

"So Harry, I know you play for the other team as well, do you want me to find you a man? You look like you need one." she stated after less than three minutes of conversation. Great, Harry looked desperate. He was inclined to blame Louis' bright smile. 

But most importantly, did he want a date? It was probably a good idea, a way to stop thinking about Louis. However, it also meant admitting to never have any chance with the handsome captain. 

"Uhm, maybe? I'll have to think about it, I'm not really into blind dates..."

Eleanor nodded, sympathetic, then promptly started inquiring for his ideal type. Harry had to focus to avoid giving Louis' description. 

***

"Never again." Harry groaned against the pillow. 

"I'm still astonished that you let  _Eleanor_  set you up." Zayn commented, half his attention on his textbook. 

Harry was starfished on his bed, face planted on the pillow, still in his fancy date clothes. The guy, Michael, turned out to be a pretentious asshole whose main interest was vintage design. Harry had been tempted to use the emergency call exit, but he was too polite to do that. 

"I thought that maybe going out with someone else would distract me from my stupid crush!" Harry defended himself. 

"Haz, the real problem is that you also like him as a friend. You'll keep seeing him and hanging out with him, and the crush will stay." Zayn reasoned, and Harry agreed with a muffled pained sound. "It's not a tragedy! Also, I think you're good for Louis. Randy is a nice guy and everything, but he seems to light up when he's with you."

"So what should I do? Drown in my self-pity?" Harry asked, now on his back, cuddling the pillow. 

"No, man! You need to stop letting Louis dictate how you feel. Be his friend. And if you want to throw a couple of hints of how much of an amazing boyfriend you'd be, it's not a big deal." 

"I really want to keep being his friend, but worrying about being platonic enough was stressing, you're right." 

"Yes, and overthinking or trying to get rid of the crush is not going to work. Look, I'm not good at giving advice, I'm sorry, so just do what you think is best." 

"Thanks Z, sorry if I'm using you to vent about my relationship issues. What about you and Liam? Do you need the room tonight?" Harry waggled his eyebrows suggestively. 

Zayn threw him a pencilcase. 

***

"I'm back!" Louis shouted, taking off his jacket. 

"Damn, here I thought we'd finally gotten rid of him!" Niall's voice came from his bedroom. 

"I hope you at least have takeaway!" Liam added, entering the kitchen area of their shared flat. 

"Yeah, picked it form that place Harry suggested. Now help me set the table!" 

After a nice Thai dinner, the three boys settled for a Halo marathon. 

"... and that's how that stain got there."

"Niall, that's disgusting! Please never pick up girls in that club again." Liam made a retching sound. "You could go on a date, for a change! Oh, speaking of which, did you know that Harry went out with Michael?"

Louis perked up. "Asshole Michael doing the Business PhD? Wait,  _Harry_? Our Harry?"

Niall rolled his eyes. "Yes,  _our_  Harry. How did you not know? You guys are always together!"

Louis seemed quite annoyed. "He apparently told everyone but me..."

"I actually heard it from El! I thought you knew!" Niall defended himself. 

"And I heard it from Zayn." Liam added. "Apparently it was a horrible date." That seemed to calm Louis. 

"I just had no idea that he wanted to date... I could find him a date!" 

"Please don't." Liam and Niall immediately spoke at the same time. Louis gave them a confused look. 

"I know him better that you guys! I could help!" 

Liam efficiently stopped the conversation by killing Louis on Halo. By the time he stopped cursing and they started again, the topic was forgotten.

"And how was you date with Randy anyway? One of the good ones or not?" Liam asked, genuinely interested. 

Those that had known Louis for a long time knew that his relationship with Randy was in a weird place. After two years, the chemistry was dying out. They had fallen into a routine of nice dates and romantic gestures and vanilla sex that was a dream from an outsider's point of view, but was draining them. Admitting repetition and monotony was however scary, because it could mean that they were falling out of love. Which unfortunately meant that they were trying to fix the relationship without talking about it, assuming that the other was aware of the situation. It worked for a while, but recently things had gotten colder. 

"Not a good one. I mean, it was homemade pancakes at his plus Star Trek, and i know he hates that movie! And it was fun, it really was, but when we started making out I swear I  was going through the shopping list..."

"That bad, huh?" Liam sighed, and Niall made a shocked face at the idea of not enjoying snogging. "So did you just leave?"

"No, stop it, I already feel so bad, he put so much effort... I blew him and made plans to go somewhere on Saturday." Louis paused the game and threw himself in Liam's lap in despair. "What's wrong with me? I can't even enjoy sex with my boyfriend!" 

"Spice thing up!" suggested Niall, after a longing glance at the stopped game.

"All right, I don't think that's the main problem. Louis, I know I've already told you, but you and Randy need to sit down and deal with this situation. I'm sure if you can talk about what's happening, it can be solved." 

Liam's advice made sense, and Louis had reached the point where "the talk" didn't seem so bad, if the alternative was dragging on a relationship that only made him feel worn out, guilty and bored.

***

Louis had a lecture at nine, and he was going to regret staying up until way past midnight to text Harry, but the boy was telling him about how a species of lizards went lesbian and he was so invested in the lizard sex, Louis found it incredibly endearing. 

_How come when you say something about your field it's always animal sex?_

_Every human has worms parasitising their eyelashes_

_！(◎_◎;) go back to the sex immediately_

Louis felt almost guilty, texting Harry so much and enjoying his company. Yes, so far it had been strictly platonic and not in any way different that what he did with Liam or Niall, but he slipped in that intimacy with Harry so fast, that he couldn't help but wonder if it was something more. Yes, he and Harry teased each other constantly, and were extremely comfortable with physical contact, but he had a boyfriend and Harry was aware of that. Plus, he was apparently dating other people as well. Louis was sure Harry would find a boyfriend in no time, with his charming personality, stupid jokes and of course, his body. Wait, why was he even thinking about Harry like that? He was supposed to focus on his actual relationship, not preoccupy about Harry's!

***

Harry welcomed the end of week four: it meant that he had spent more than a month in a new city all by himself, and managed to make good friends. However, for him the upcoming weeks five meant a terrifying Evolution test. That, surprisingly, had had one very positive outcome: study date with Louis. Apparently, he had a boring mathematical table to fill and didn't mind doing it while Harry listed the reasons for bipedalism. 

They were currently squished on Harry's bed, Louis cross-legged against the bed frame and Harry on his front, head resting on Louis' knee. It was heaven, but didn't really help him concentrate, especially since Louis would sometimes absentmindedly play with his curls. And Harry definitely had a  _thing_  with hair-touching. And pulling. 

"Wait, what was the last one? Something phallic..." Louis asked, suddenly interested. 

"Of course you would be interested in that... It's phallic display, one of the reasons for bipedalism."

"So we walk on two legs because primate ladies wanted to see dicks as much as possible?!" 

"Uh, amongst other things..." Harry smiled. He tried to come up with a funny remark to make, but his phone rang, and he rolled around to retrieve it, barely avoiding falling off the bed. 

"Oh shit, I was supposed to call mum yesterday... She's going to maul me!" He made a pained face to Louis, who just told him to answer and "be a better son". 

With Harry out and no phallic facts to distract him, Louis had studying as the only option. So he focused on his very boring budget reports. He immediately noticed and error in his math.  _Ugh_ , of course. Did he bring a rubber? Of course not! 

"Haz, where can I find a rubber?" he shouted, hoping that Harry's mother wouldn't find him rude. He heard something that sounded like "drawer" in return, so he leant over to open the drawer. 

And  _holy Mother of God._

Definitely not stationery, and Harry definitely meant the desk drawer, and  _fuck_. 

There, in plain sight, was a ridiculously big vibrator, dark blue with veiny details. Next to it, a mostly empty bottle of strawberry lube and an unopened pack of condoms. 

Louis forcibly forbade his brain form forming mental images of Harry using those objects. It was just... He never actually considered Harry as a sexual being before. Yes, he recognized that he was a good-looking guy, and that mouth was simply obscene, but nothing more than that. Also, Harry with him was so goofy and lovely that he would have never expected to find a kinky side in him. 

But now,  _oh_. Now his endless legs were just begging to be seen spread open, those long fingers had just found a purpose, and that tattoo peaking from his shirt looked like an x to mark the spot for a bite. 

And the vibrator just raised more questions: was Harry used to its length or did he have to push himself, stretch properly, feel it burn a little? Did he use it on that very bed? 

Louis suddenly felt lightheaded and incredibly inappropriate. He slammed the drawer closed and took a couple of calming breaths before getting up and opening the actual desk drawer, with actual stationery. 

He had just sat back on the bed when Harry returned, lovely smile in place as always. Louis gulped down, putting on his best poker face and definitely not staring at Harry's body inappropriately. Damn it, Tomlinson, get it together! He has a dildo, so what? You have three! 

"Louis, is everything all right?"

That shook him. With one more glance at the bedside drawer to check that it was closed, Louis reassured Harry with some kind of excuse. Except, there was no way he could study with Harry and cuddle with him, not with those vivid fantasies in his mind, risking to get an incredibly inappropriate boner. 

"Look, Haz, I actually need to go now, there's a... A book in the library that I need, so I'll see you around, all right?" He didn't sound convincing to his own ears, but Harry just nodded, dumbfounded. 

Louis took advantage of that and nearly bolted out, planning to go home and wash his eyes with bleach to forget about Harry's sexual preferences and then try his best to have a wank thinking about his actual boyfriend. 

***

Louis was avoiding him. Louis was avoiding him and Harry had no idea why. Ever since his weird escape from  their friendly study date a week prior, the older lad managed to find excuses not to meet alone with Harry, and even when Zayn, Liam and Niall were present, Louis kept the physical contact to bare minimum, and acted colder than usual. 

Harry couldn't help but fear that his feelings had been too obvious, and that Louis was trying to reject him without hurting his feelings. Meanwhile, Zayn and Liam had entered a disgusting lovesick phase, so he found himself spending a lot of time with Niall. The Irishman was cheerful, single and didn't ask many questions when he noticed Harry pining for Louis. He instead had interesting information about Zayn and Liam. 

"Liam spent last year proclaiming his heterosexuality, and Zayn was  _miserable_. They argued all the time, it was horrible. Then, during an Easter's party, Zayn had too much to drink and planted a kiss on Liam's shocked face. You should have seen him! He was  _aghast_! Then he had a major sexuality crisis, somehow managed to end up snogging Zayn again, didn't talk to him for  _weeks_ , and finally pulled his shit together somewhere during the summer. We were all very surprised when they actually started dating, and especially when Liam started showing his affection in public."

"Well, I noticed that Zayn is still more confident, doesn't really care who's watching..." Harry commented. 

"Yes, but have you seen Zayn's face?" 

"You raise a valid point."

Niall was stubbornly procrastinating his coursework and instead planning a huge party in a cyberpunk club. There was no special occasion, but the Irishman didn't exactly need any motive. To use his words, "there definitely is some occasion that we forgot to celebrate, we need to make up for it!"

So far, everything was coming along nicely, and Harry was looking forward to the night out, especially since the club looked amazing, and also because Louis couldn't refuse Niall's invitation, which meant he was getting a night out with Louis. Harry made a mental note to not get drunk, especially since he heard that Randy was going to be at a friend's birthday party. This meant Louis all for himself, if he played his cards right. A party wasn't probably the best place to clear things up, but he didn't have many other options. If what he suspected was actually true, and Louis had figured out his crush and wanted to reject him, Harry would accept it. But he preferred an actual confrontation to the awkward situation that was gong on. 

Deciding to clear things up with Louis had the unwanted effect of making him feel very nervous for the party, and Zayn was beginning to notice it. Everyone in their little group was aware of the change in the dynamics between Harry and Louis, but apparently there was an unspoken agreeing that the two had to solve it on their own. 

The day of the party, Zayn offered moral support by braiding Harry's hair, making him look like some kind of elven king. Zayn was under appreciated and deserved all the love. Harry told him so. 

"I will accept love in the form of shots, thank you very much."

***

Harry didn't get his hopes up: He expected Louis to greet him without emphasis, maybe make a neutral comment about his braids, and then shift his attention to someone else. 

Boy, was he wrong. 

As soon as Louis caught sight of him, he gaped, mouth hanging open like a cartoon character. He was at Harry's side in seconds, and yes, there was no mistaking it: he gave Harry a once-over, complete of lip biting and piercing stare that made Harry's knees threaten to give out and his cock twitch in interest. 

" _Jesus_ , Harold, what are you even wearing..." Louis breathed out, barely audible in the loud club. Harry looked down at his outfit himself, suddenly worried that there was something wrong. It was his standard club in outfit: mostly unbuttoned shirt and suffocatingly tight dark jeans. Louis had seen him dressed like that before, why the sudden reaction? 

Before he could react in any way, Zayn dragged him away to the bar to claim his shots. Harry wanted to protest; after all, that reaction must have meant  _something_ , at the very least that Louis found him attractive, and Harry wanted to explore that scenario. Once again, Zayn blocked him before he could talk:

"I've got an idea. Let's dance."

Harry looked at him confused: how did that have anything to do with Louis? Then Zayn downed his shot and hooked his fingers through one of Harry's belt loops, pulling him towards the dancefloor. Usually Zayn's ideas were brilliant ideas, so Harry followed, and settled his arms around Zayn's neck. When he felt the raver haired's hands gripping his hips, he was startled, and looked around to see if anyone was watching, and  _oh_. 

Zayn deserved a lifetime supply of shots. 

***

Louis' brain had stopped working shortly after his study date, deciding to leave his cock in charge. Even since sex with Randy stopped being incredible, he resigned to a frigid life of guilty wanks. Clearly, it was not going to work for long. Now that his mind had found new, accessible, real-life wank material, he felt like a preadolescent dealing with his first boners. And what made it all even worse was that it was  _Harry_. Harry was a good friend, and Louis felt like he was violating him by having those explicit thoughts. 

And now, after ignoring him for a couple of weeks, when he was finally starting to erase from his mind the image of Harry with a 8-inch dildo in him, the boy decided to show up with  _braids_  that just begged to be pulled, sinful jeans that someone must have  _painted_  on him, and his ridiculously arousing tattoos all in display. Louis conscience never stood a chance. 

The source of his shameful sexual fantasies known as Harry Styles had now decided to torture him by dancing with Zayn, grinding against him, hesitantly at first, but then Zayn whispered something to him and Harry laughed, pressing closer and gyrating his hips matching the low bass of the techno song playing in the club. Louis wanted to die. 

"Now seems like a good time to stop eye-fucking Harry." came a voice from behind him. Louis turned, startled, but it was simply Niall, smug grin in place and holding two drinks. 

"I know we're not talking about it, but. You kinda like Harry." Niall stated, offering one of the drinks, coke and rum by the look of it. 

"I don't  _like_  him!" Louis immediately replied, too quick to sound natural. "I just think he's hot and well, it's not like I'm getting any."

"Mmh..." Niall nodded sagely like he confessed a deep secret. "Well, the club is definitely not a good place to sort your feelings. Why don't you ask him to dance?" 

Louis snorted. Yes, as if. "I ignored him all week, I can't just ask him out of the blue!"

"Well then just go talk to him, apologise, then ask him to dance. And don't even try to pull the 'I have a boyfriend' card. I said dancing, not public frottage." Niall suggested, and he actually sounded reasonable. That's probably what being tempted by your shoulder devil felt like. Unfortunately, his shoulder angel, known as Liam, was missing, so there was no one to stop him. After that provocation, Niall waltzed away, leaving him still staring at Harry and Zayn and boiling in his frustration. 

***

Harry was having the time of his life. Dancing like that, slutty and confident, driving everyone's looks on him, was making him feel lightheaded and naughty. It was  _awesome_. And the knowledge that, among those heated looks, there was Louis'. This time he didn't even feel guilty: he didn't do anything to actively seduce Louis, yet the older guy was staring at him and Zayn dancing with such  _intensity_  to make Harry shiver. Between that knowledge and Zayn proving to be quite the skilled dancer, he was beginning to feel overwhelmed, and didn't notice Zayn smirking. He was snapped out of his (inappropriate) thoughts by a sudden hand on his shoulder, gently but firmly pulling him away from Zayn. 

He turned, and  _sweet_  mother of Jesus, it was Louis, blue eyes sparkling under the flashy lights with his trademark smirk in place. 

"Sorry to interrupt your little show, Harold, but I was wondering if we could talk..." he asked, hand still gripping Harry's shoulder. The younger boy nodded, looking dumbstruck.

No one could blame him if he felt a little confused, Harry thought. There was no explanation for Louis' behaviour. First he ignored him, then he looked at him like he was food, and now this. What did he want to talk about?

Louis lead him outside the club, away from the loud music and the crowd. After the suffocating air of the club, the cold night hit Harry, making him regret leaving his jacket inside. 

"Haz, I wanted to apologise for my behaviour this past week. You didn't do anything wrong, it was just me trying to figure out some, mmh, some problems with Randy..." Louis said, eyes downcast.  

"And did you figure them out?" Harry asked, still unsure how to feel. 

"Not really, there's something..." Louis looked up. Now their eyes were locked. "... distracting me."

Harry nodded, even if there was no reason for him to, but he was also getting distracted, focusing more on the way Louis was staring at him. Like he was waiting for something. 

Harry was pretty sure he wasn't breathing. Louis was so close, and if Harry took a step back he would be against the wall. It was definitely a suggestive position, Harry subconsciously licked his lips. Louis glanced down to his mouth, and Harry shivered in anticipation. The air was electric. After what felt like hours, just when Harry thought he was going to jump Louis himself, the other took  _the_  step forward, sending Harry against the wall. 

Louis was still staring at him, and Harry felt on fire on the receiving end of such an intense stare, blue eyes burning with want. He let out a much needed breath, resting his head against the wall, breaking eye contact. 

Louis made a displeased grunting sound, and suddenly he was  _against_  Harry, their body aligning. He sneaked a hand in Harry's hair, almost pulling him down by his braids, and Harry couldn't help but let escape a low whine, because  _hair pulling_. 

Louis was so close now, Harry could feel his breath against his skin. He licked his lips one more time before closing his eyes and-

"Louis! What are you doing?" 

Louis pulled away as if Harry was fire and he got burned. Liam stood there, eyebrows in worried  _u_  shapes, looking incredulous. Harry wanted to  _vivisect_  him. 

"No, we were... I was just..." Louis babbled, cheeks tinging red. He looked dishevelled, even if all they did was basically a staring contest.

"We didn't do anything, Liam." Harry intervened, sensing that Louis was still too shocked to form a coherent answer. "Just talking. Completely PG." 

That was probably a blatant lie, because that had been the less PG conversation Harry ever had, and that was including his attempts at phone sex. It didn't feel like an innocent conversation, but more like... Foreplay. 

"Anyway, I'm going back to the club," Harry started, a brilliant idea forming in his mind. "wouldn't want to...  _Distract_  you." 

At his last words, Louis looked up, and sent him such a charged look that Harry's breath hitched. 

***

After that whatever it was that had happened at the club, Harry was expecting Louis to ignore him with even more intent, but it didn't happen. Instead, they were almost back to normal, if ridiculous innuendos and physical contact without boundaries could be called normal. 

However, there were moments where Harry would catch Louis staring at him, lost in thought or even biting his lips. That didn't help Harry's frustration. 

Because that was a new constant in Harry's life: sexual frustration. Being constantly around Louis, and knowing that, to some level, Louis was attracted to him, had the effect of keeping Harry's hormones to at least "mildly horny" all the time. And of course, he had a roommate so his wanking session were mostly in the shower, trying to keep quiet. Which is to say, unsatisfactory. 

It had got to the point where even Zayn had started to notice it. 

"Harry, I'm trying to write a paper on Post-Impressionism, would you mind not humping the bed?"

Harry jolted, red with embarrassment: Arctic Monkey had started playing on his iPod and his thoughts had gone to Louis without him even noticing. 

"Sorry mate... Having Louis around but not being able to do anything is making me impossibly frustrated." 

Zayn sighed, looking at the bedsheets with disgust. "You need to solve it, I don't care how. I can spend a night with Liam if it helps..."

"Zayn don't be ridiculous, I don't need a night of masturbation." Harry stated, even if the idea did sound tempting. 

Zayn lifted an eyebrow. "I've cleaned the room, and found your toy, I expect the worst from you." 

Harry sighed. Yes, he would have preferred to be able to use his vibrator, but he was not going to tell that to Zayn! 

"Oh don't tell me you got tired of that? I know a great site..."

Now Harry gaped. Wasn't Zayn teasing him about sex toys seconds before? 

"You're suggesting I buy a dildo to solve my frustration problem!?" he asked, incredulous. 

"Why not? Tell everyone you're studying, I'll be out actually studying, and everyone's happy." 

Harry didn't really have objections. 

***

Louis wanted to bang his head against the wall. Repeatedly. Harry had showed up at the football practice with a  _leopard_  print shirt. Louis had to try really hard not to rip it off. With his teeth. Except, Randy had also been at he practice. Hence the wall banging. At least now he was horny during his dates with Randy, but he was pretty sure that was not a positive development. Mostly since he wanted Harry, not Randy. But what if it was just a momentary crush, just an easy way to direct his frustration? He decided to bring up the problem with Liam. 

"Finally, we're discussing Harry!" Liam exclaimed. 

"I'm team fuck Harry!" came Niall's shout from his bedroom. "Dump Randy!"

"Niall!" Liam was scandalised. "He can't break up with Randy just because he finds Harry attractive!"

"Then dump Randy, fuck Harry and take him to meet your parents! I dunno mate, do the relationship thing but fuck him, I can't stand more heart eyes and midnight showers that take way too long." Niall shouted back. 

"Could you stop yelling? We're in the same flat!" Louis yelled himself. That had the effect of making Niall come to the living room to join the discussion. 

"Look, I know I've been frustrated recently, but I can't do much about it. I can't stay with Randy if all I can't think about is Harry, and I can't be with Harry if I still love Randy." 

Liam nodded, apparently agreeing. "I understand your confusion, but that actually leaves us with a simple question: do you love Harry? Is he worth it?" 

Louis pulled his knees up and hid his face, without an answer. The idea of leaving Randy was scary, but he definitely was attracted to Harry, and the idea of taking the boy to cute dates and kissing him seemed paradise. He never thought he'd be in a situation like that, never imagined he'd consider cheating. There also was the possibility of Harry not liking him back, even though Liam and Niall were refusing to acknowledge it for some reason. 

"I need to think about that question, Liam. In the meantime, the goal is to prevent Harry from reducing me to a frustrated mess."

Louis felt better after that talk. He now knew what decision he needed to make, and that was a great step forward. His good mood lasted until Harry posted a selfie on Twitter of himself pouting. Louis didn't even read the caption. Simply saved the picture and banged his head against the bed frame.

***

At some point, Harry had learnt that Louis was a terrible cook. So when he ended up staying late on a study day, he offered to make fajitas. Louis looked at him like a kid on Christmas morning. 

"Fajitas? You know the key to my heart!"

Harry texted Zayn, still in the studio, to ask him if he wanted to join them, but he was apparently going out for a pint with Niall. That meant, Harry realised with a spark of arousal, that he was going to be alone with Louis for the evening. 

"You can help me cook, if you promise you won't set the kitchen on fire. As you know, the entire floor needs it!"

"You're asking too much from me!"

In the end, nothing burned down, and Harry enjoyed guiding Louis through the passages, and didn't mind the older boy trying to steal food. The only causality was a pack of flour that Louis had dropped while reaching for the salt ("Because you're too short, Lou!" "How very dare you!") and that resulted in a minor flour fight that left both of them with flour  _everywhere_. 

"So, how did that lab go? The one about blood?" Louis asked while Harry set the table. 

"Oh, good! Let me tell you a story." Harry proposed, with a grin Louis knew all too well. 

"Harry no." 

"Once upon a time, two red blood cells fell in love..." 

Louis sighed. 

"... But alas, it was all  _in vein_!" Harry concluded, laughing himself. Louis whipped him with a dish cloth. 

"But Louis!"  Harry continued, running away from the table where he couldn't be reached. "What do you call a very small cation?" 

"I swear to god I will hunt you down!"

"A  _kitten_ -ion!" Harry went on anyway, and suddenly was tackled by Louis. The surprise and his terrible coordination made him fall, and Louis went down with him. It could have been suggestive, but Louis fell on his elbow, and ignored the fact that he was on top of Harry, instead muttering a string of curses and hitting the younger boy with his sane hand. Harry was in hysterics, the entire situation was hilarious. 

"Fuck, shit, this is all your fault! Bad science jokes at now banned!" Louis declared, slapping Harry's shoulder and every other place he could reach. "Now go, serve me dinner!"

Harry was quite confident about his cooking skills, but Louis' opinion meant a lot. He waited while the boy took the first bite. Louis closed his eyes and let out a moan that went straight to Harry's cock. 

"Haz, this is amazing! I can't believe I never tasted your cooking before!" 

Harry smiled so hard it was almost painful. This definitely felt like a real date, except he couldn't hope for a kiss at the end. Well, he hoped anyway, but he shouldn't. 

After dinner, Louis said that he was too full and tired to take the tube already, so they decided to watch s TV. Before that, Harry decided to change shirt, and shake off the flour from his body. 

"Oh, that's a lovely idea, can I borrow a shirt? I don't really fancy looking like a baker..." 

"Hey, don't shame bakers! I used to be one." Harry replied, but went to get the shirt anyway. 

He certainly didn't expect Louis to follow him back to the room and just take off his t-shirt. When he turned Louis' tattoos gave him a minor heart attack. Louis just looked so  _good_ , with golden skin and bulging biceps and curvy hips. Harry definitely wanted to see the lower half. 

"Harry, did you hear me?" 

Oh shit, he got distracted staring.

Louis was smirking, perfectly aware of the cause of Harry's distraction. He looked infinitely pleased. 

"I got distracted thinking about a new joke!" Harry improvised, trying to cover his shamelessness. 

"Harry! We said jokes are banned!" Louis replied, mock-affronted. 

"Yes, but how do molecules prepare for Christmas?" Harry went on, throwing the shirt to Louis in the meantime and taking a step back: if he was going to be tackled again, he wanted to be close to his bed this time. 

Louis caught the shirt and pointed a warning finger towards him. "Harry, don't you dare..."

"They make a ChemisTree!" Harry concluded, giggling. 

"A chemis- terrible, Harold!" Louis exclaimed, and discarded the shirt to attack Harry, this time resorting to violent tickling. 

Unfortunately, Harry was extremely ticklish. In seconds he was wailing and contorting and throwing himself on the bed to avoid Louis' terrible hands. He was given no rest: Louis jumped on the bed and straddled his thighs, keeping him in place while attacking his sides. 

"No, oh god, oh god, please!" Harry begged, overwhelmed. "No more puns, promise!" That made Louis stop, and Harry was able to regain his breath, closed his eyes and went completely limp under Louis. 

"I hope you learned the lesson." Louis stated, clearly pleased. He emphasised the sentence bouncing on top of Harry, and well. That rose him immediately, and he sat up, arms flailing a little and cheeks quickly turning scarlet. 

They both froze in place, Harry siting with Louis on his lap, in a completely different atmosphere. Their bodies were touching, Harry could feel Louis' weight on his thighs, and the buckle of his jeans pressing against his lower belly, and his dick was starting to get the wrong idea. Down, boy. 

It also didn't help that Louis was right in front of him, at perfect kissing distance, eyes wide in surprise and lips slightly parted. 

Then, the moment passed, and Louis forced a laugh while getting up, murmuring something about Harry being incapable of controlling his giraffe limbs. 

"Anyway, I should get going, there's lectures tomorrow and I can't miss any more..." 

Harry was expecting that kind of reaction, but it was still frustrating. He subtly adjusted himself in his pants while Louis put on his shirt, too big on him. Harry's cock appreciated that. 

He offered to walk Louis to the tube station, but the boy assured that there was no need. Harry was left with dirty dishes in the common room to clean and a semi that required attention. Usually, he would have dealt with the dishes first, but waiting in his drawer was the new purchase, on Zayn's suggested website. 

***

As soon as he was out of Harry's dorm, Louis took a moment to recollect himself. Why did those moments keep happening to them? Was that sexual tension never going away? God, Harry had looked so good, squirming under him, flushed and panting...

Louis suppressed the spark of arousal and once again cursed himself for the position he ended up in. And the worst thing was that dinner with Harry as been lovely, relaxed and fun just like a date should feel, that charged intimacy that he and Randy had lost.  

And in that moment, Louis realised it: his relationship with Randy was over. Even without his feelings for Harry, he wasn't in love with Randy anymore. It was pointless to remain in a dragged out, loveless relationship hoping for the spark to come back, especially at twenty-one. He had to break up with Randy, and soon. Yes, he was going to be sad, and he was definitely going to miss the safety deriving from a long-term relationship, but he felt like that was the right thing, also for Randy's sake. He was such a great guy, he deserved someone who truly loved and appreciated him. 

***

Liam brewed what probably was the fourth teapot of Yorkshire. He and Niall had been expecting the breakup for a while, but it still hadn't been pleasant. Louis had spent the entire afternoon at Randy's and came back with red rimmed eyes asking for tea and Disney movies. 

"Liam, are you seriously giving him more tea?!" Niall asked, eyeing the teapot with disgust. "Isn't it time for vodka?" 

Liam just sighed, then noticed that Niall was holding Louis' phone. "Hey, why do you have it?" he asked, pointing at the object. 

"Louis doesn't want to talk to Randy, Harry, his mum and anyone that would make him cry more. He wants to get over the breakup as soon as possible." Niall explained. 

"Understandable, if you also consider that we have the game next Saturday. Louis can't afford playing bad, if we want to pass to the next tier." Liam felt insensitive for worrying about the game, but at the same time Louis was mostly sad because ending the relationship had been a big step, and not because he regretted doing it; which meant that focusing on other things important for him would help him recover.

"Do you think we should tell Harry?" Niall asked, rummaging through the (mostly empty) liquor cabinet. 

"Well, I believe that's Louis' decision. Maybe he wants some time to pass before dating again. Maybe he doesn't want to date Harry..." 

"Bullshit. Louis' going to date Harry  _so hard_..." 

***

Louis had only ignored him for a day after the not-exclusively-platonic dinner, and then promptly apologised, saying that he would explain everything soon. Harry couldn't help but feel nervous, like something was going to happen soon. But he had no idea if it was something good or bad. It made him restless, like he  _had_  to do something, and most likely he was going to choose the stupidest thing to do. The tension was killing him. 

Thankfully, he had an impending practical about hybridisation that required most of his time, and Louis was busy between football practice and his own workload. There was not much time to go out or pine for each other. Everyone's schedule seemed to clear right after the game, which had everyone looking forward to it. Niall was, of course, already organising the victory party (or eventual consolation party), in yet another club. It was quite worrying how easy it was for him to book club rooms without paying high prices. 

Zayn was Harry's favourite person, as usual. He was the only one without football training or heavy coursework, and was helping Harry with his taxonomy diagrams, drawing all the genetic trees for him (even though doodles and tattoo plans always ended up on the margins, and were too pretty to erase). Zayn unfortunately didn't have any insight on Louis, no gossip from Liam. Which was suspicious to say the least, since something was definitely going on, with Louis' weird mood swings and Liam's radio silence about it. Unfortunately, there wasn't much Harry could do about it.

Not much happened in the days leading to the game, except that one time Harry came back to the room and found Liam. With Zayn on his knees in front of him. He didn't even know if he had been disgusted of aroused by the scene. 

Liam hadn't been able to look Harry in the eyes for the rest of the week, much to Zayn's amusement. 

The day of the match, Louis appeared at the end of Harry's lectures to propose lunch together. To say Harry was surprised would have been an understatement. But Louis' grin was at its maximum power, and declining was not an option. 

Harry was taken to a new Greek place, with Louis chatting amiably about his sisters being menaces as usual and how he aced a test. 

"And what about you, Harold? I hardly ever see you around, with all of our obligations..." he commented casually,  "Been on any dates? If you found the time, I mean, there's barely time to feed, social interactions are a rare luxury..." he went on, and now Harry could see that Louis was nervous, most probably about the game, and the continuous talking was a way to cover it. 

"No dates, after all I'm not really looking for someone..." Harry mumbled, purposefully avoiding to look at Louis. However the older boy was seemingly satisfied with the answer, and switched the subject to uni again. 

They decided to eat at the small restaurant instead of getting takeaway, and Louis guided him trough the menu. Everything looked delicious and in the end they decided to get multiple things and share them. Louis' nervousness stayed, and he kept fidgeting and pointing out random funny details about the restaurant's decor. Harry found it adorable. 

Suddenly, Louis surged forward and grabbed Harry's hand. 

"Oh, is that a new ring? How many do you have, Harold?" 

"Yeah, it's, hum, I have-" Harry trailed off, feeling his cheeks heat up. Louis was still holding his hand.  _What a subtle reaction, Styles_ , he thought, trying to think about a way to save his face. 

Thankfully, the food arrived. Louis immediately started to dig in, apparently unfazed by Harry's reaction. 

"Oh you need to try the falafel, it's incredible!" he nearly moaned around his bite, not helping Harry regain a semblance of indifference. 

The conversation got to music tastes and Christmas plans, and for some reason Harry felt like it was a test of some type. And it definitely felt like a first date, even more than their dinner together. What was different was the way Louis was acting, more nervous but at the same time, more open in his gestures, like he got rid of something that was holding him back. 

But Harry really,  _really_  needed to stop fantasise like that. Louis had a loving boyfriend and he had an hopeless crush. The falafel tasted bitter after that thought. 

When the lunch came to an end, Harry was almost relieved, because it was too close to what he actually wanted, but too far from the truth. He promised to come to the game and cheer for the team, and then of course they were all going to the club. Randy was probably going to be there as well, Harry thought. But he wasn't going to let him ruin a fun night out. 

***

They won the game. They won spectacularly, 3-2, with the last goal scored by Louis a couple of minutes before the end, making him the star of the game. 

Apparently, the club was owned by an association of ex-students (which explained how easy it had been for Niall to book it) and apparently that meant the alcohol was incredibly cheap, and all the players were offering rounds, happy after the victory. Louis was drinking beer with Niall and some other players, while Harry stayed with Zayn and Liam, who had just got a tray of shots. Liam's goal seemed to get Zayn drunk without his boyfriend noticing, and it was surprisingly working. Zayn was tipsy and uncharacteristically chipper, and was comparing Liam to various superheroes for the weirdest reasons. It was pretty funny to witness. 

"We should record him." Liam stated, an amused smirk in place. "There's hardly any blackmail material against him, it's only fair." 

Harry agreed, downing another shot. Oh, tequila. That was new. Zayn caught up on the fact that they were drinking tequila and ran to the bartender to ask for salt and lime, and shouted at Liam to "start getting undressed!" 

The group of jocks wolf-whistled and catcalled at Zayn's idea, and Liam blushed furiously and sprinted to stop his boyfriend. 

Without realising it, Harry was instead kidnapped by a cackle of drunk cheerleaders, led by Eleanor, and they all offered him more drinks and demanded a dance. In his hazed state, Harry was content being passed around and dancing without a worry in the world, being used as a pretty body. 

"You know, you should give Louis a congratulatory kiss. He's pouty, doesn't have Randy!" one of the girls slurred. 

"Oh, I would look so hot!" Eleanor agreed. Harry nodded. It would. He agreed. Also, it had been rude of Randy not to come. Why did the not come? Harry was too foggy to remember. 

Louis was now sprawled on a small sofa, telling a story to the audience, probably the last goal, while the jocks cheered and proposed toasts for what seemed every line. Harry spotted jell-o shots and that was what drew him to the sofa, even more than Louis' perfectly fitted jacket. Probably. 

Harry had however misjudged his coordination in that intoxicated state, because he tripped and fell against one of the football players, a huge guy named Trent. 

"Oho! Look at the little Haz!" Trent chuckled, giving him a bear hug. 

Harry had become well known among the football team, mostly since he was at every practice and Louis always invited him in the locker room, claiming, after that first game, that Harry was a good luck charm. 

"Harry, did you know that now we've passed the first tier? That's why the game was so important." Trent explained, still trapping him. Harry nodded, the boys always kept him informed about the Uni tournament. 

"The tradition used to be to hook up the captain with the head cheerleader, but as we all know, that's not possible..." 

Louis laughed from the sofa, half empty drink threatening to spill. "I'll be fine here, worshipped like a God. Niall, do you think we can find any grapes to feed me?" 

"You'll have to do with grape jell-o, mate!" Niall cackled, signalling someone to go get the shots. 

"What about you, fairy boy?" asked Trent, with no venom in the nickname. "What flavour do you want?" 

"Cherry!" Harry answered, grinning wildly 

"Of course you do..." Trent commented, and finally set him free, giving him a little push in the direction of the table. 

It appeared as not many liked the cherry flavour, since there were at least four left on the table. 

"Now that you asked, you have to finish them!" someone said, and the suggestion was immediately backed up by cheers. 

Harry shrugged and downed the shots. After all, getting wasted seemed like the point. The last shot sent the room in a spinning frenzy, and he ungracefully collapsed on the sofa, feeling one of the buttons in his shirt tear. He smiled at the cheers. Everyone seemed to cheer quite easily. Louis gave him a once over, making him feel hot all over. 

Even in his drunken foggy state, Harry tried to imagine what he looked like, shirt now completely open, sweaty from the dance floor, lips cherry red and general debauched appearance. 

But the way Louis was looking at him,  _oh_. Louis looked at him like he was good enough to eat, and wanted to devour him. Harry shivered at the end of that stare, but the alcohol in his veins was like liquid confidence. Yes, the room was still swaying, but Louis' piercing blue eyes kept him focused. 

Before he could think twice, Harry climbed on Louis' lap, bracketing his hips. Louis immediately sat up and weakly put a hand on his chest to stop him. 

"Harry, wait... We need to-" Louis protested, even though his eyes were fixed on Harry's naked chest. 

Harry shook his head, remembering Liam and Zayn's story. Zayn had gathered all his courage, and kissed Liam, even if it looked forbidden, since Liam was claiming to be straight. 

"No more talking." he whispered, and went for it. The fact that the entire team was watching was the last of his problems. When their lips finally connected, Harry almost whimpered in relief. Louis tasted like vodka lemon, and his unshaven chin was pressing against Harry's skin and it was heaven. For a couple of seconds, everything stayed still. Louis didn't reciprocate, and the only thing Harry could hear was the thrumming music of the club. 

Then, with an almost pained noise, Louis sneaked his arms around Harry's neck and pulled him flush against him, and  _attacked_  Harry's mouth. There was no other way to describe it: Louis nearly smashed their teeth together, then pried his lips open and licked into Harry's mouth with a wicked tongue, leaving him breathless and even dizzier than before. 

Harry moaned into the kiss, pressing himself against the rough material of Louis' jacket, and experimentally rolled his hips. The friction was so good they had to pause the kiss for a moment, to just pant. Harry held Louis' face with both hands, passing a thumb against his lips, pleased to feel then puffy. Louis' eyes flashed and he sucked the digit in his mouth, making Harry groan in pleasure. 

They reattached their lips with renewed passion, Harry throwing himself at Louis, pushing him on his back, straddling him, all without interrupting the feverish kiss. Louis' hands gripped his hips, right before his bum, and Harry moaned encouragingly, grinding against him one more time. 

"Guys... It's not like I don't feel ya, but maybe you should do it somewhere more private..." Niall's accented voice called, and suddenly someone was pulling Harry away. 

"You definitely had too much for tonight. And I'm not only talking about the drinks." Liam said sternly, while Harry was still trying to adjust to the situation. "It's time I bring you and Zayn home." 

Zayn, waved weakly from an armchair, face a little pale, nursing a bottle of water. Harry finally processed what Liam was saying. No! Why did Liam  _always_  interrupt him and Louis? He turned to Louis, expecting him to protest, but he was instead looking around the room with a mortified face. That... Well that sent Harry back to reality. The reality where Louis had a boyfriend and was drunk and probably feeling like shit. Harry wanted to cry. Instead, he let Liam take his hand and guide him out, along with Zayn. 

"I'm such an idiot!" he sniffled, later on the bus. "Why did I think that kissing him like that was a good idea? He must hate me now!"

The alcohol made him emotional, and he was cuddled against Liam, with Zayn asleep on his other side. 

"Why didn't he stop me? Now he's a cheater and everyone saw and fuck, I'm the slut that tried to shag the football captain after the victory!" he went on, words slurred and muffled by Liam's jumper. 

"Ssh, you're drunk and upset." Liam calmed him, petting his hair. "We'll think about it in the morning." 

***

Harry woke up suddenly, sweaty and agitated but with no memory of the nightmare that rose him. However, his stomach immediately captured his attention, and he ran to the bathroom to empty its contents. 

While hugging the toilet, he heard Zayn mumbling something at him. He didn't sound completely awake yet. Harry vaguely noticed that Liam was gone, and glanced at his watch in between nausea waves. Way past noon. That explained the lack of Liam. Knowing him, he'd probably left paracetamol for everyone and a cheesy note. 

When all the half-digested alcohol made his way out of Harry's body, he felt disgusting. He hopped in the shower, but left the door open, since he suspected Zayn would soon join the sick fest. 

In the shower, he recalled the events of the previous night. He had nearly hoped for his mind to erase everything, but no. He still perfectly recalled throwing himself at Louis. And while the lower half of his body wanted to relish in the memory, he felt terrible. He crossed the line. Now Louis was going to hate him. The entire team witnessed them snogging like sex-starved teenagers, and not to mention all the cheerleaders and supporters. Randy probably received real-time pictures while they were going at it. 

And yes, Louis may have reciprocated the kiss, but he was drunk and immediately regretted, judging by his remorseful expression, one that Harry remembered perfectly. Way to fuck up everything. 

After the shower, he quickly dried his hair and collapsed on the bed again, while Zayn took possession of the bathroom. When they were both feeling human again, they ordered takeout brunch and ate in a blissful silence. 

"So." Zayn eventually said. "Apparently yesterday I let four people take body shots off me." his voice was monochord, and he was scrolling through his phone, probably assessing the photographic evidence. 

"Did you? I snogged Louis." Harry replied, in the same tone. Zayn offered a sympathetic high five. 

"Did he return it?" he asked, after closing his phone with a mildly disgusted expression. 

"Yes, at least at the beginning... Who did body shots on you?" 

"Liam, Niall, Perrie and the bartender. Apparently that gave us a lovely discount." Zayn snorted, but now that they had their stomachs full and the medicine was in effect, the situation seemed a little brighter. Harry gave him an incredulous smile at the idea of  _Niall_  taking body shots off a guy. Ah, the power of Zayn's face. And body. 

"I'm pretty sure I fucked up." Harry said, to summarise his feelings. "I had already crossed the line a couple of times, but now Louis is definitely going to hate me. And never talk to me again."

"Maybe you should open your phone... I noticed that you've been ignoring it. At the very least, you'll assess the damage. I have to call Li now, but cheer up!" Zayn gave him an encouraging smile, and took off, phone and cigarettes in hand. 

Harry sighed. As usual, Zayn was right. He needed to see if it was  _that_  bad. Well, it probably was, but he had to face his mistakes. 

He turned on his phone, and was assaulted by dozens of notifications, mainly in whatsapp groups with people that were at the party, and twitter and facebook notifications with ( _oh Lord_ )  _pictures_  attached. He decided to ignore most of it and focus on the two messages from Niall. 

_so I know everything looks horrible but fuck em_

_i need to tell you stuff. as soon as your hungover is gone send me a sign_

There was also a text from Liam telling him to drink plenty of water, take his paracetamol and give Louis some time. Give him time to what?! Decide the way he was going to kill him? Niall's texts seemed more promising. He was the one that took Louis home, therefore he probably knew what was going on. He replied and they agreed to meet the next day over pizza. That meant Harry had an afternoon of self-pity to look forward to. And a quick look at the pictures taken the previous night didn't help. He was straddling Louis, shirt open and all over the place, and their kiss looked sloppy and desperate even in the blurry and poorly lit pics. The ghost touch of Louis' hands on his hips made him shiver against his will. His mind went back to then they were laying on the sofa, him on top of Louis, probably giving one hell of a good show to the cheerleaders with the incredibly sexual turn of the events. 

The flash of arousal caught him by surprise, but after all, he wasn't really looking forward to going back to hopelessness, so he sneaked back in the shower. 

***

Louis was... He didn't even know what he was feeling. It was a complex mixture of good and bad emotions and it was blocking him. He had spent the entire Sunday after the party moping around his shared flat under Liam's worried eye. Now it was Monday and he faced the general public again, only to discover that nobody really cared that he allegedly cheated on Randy. Well, nobody except Randy's friends, who all sent truly lovely texts calling him all sort of names. 

So, Harry kissed him, less than ten days after his breakup. And he had liked it. He may have been drunk, but he'd  _loved_ it. He wanted Harry, and he wanted to be with him.  _Hell_ , Louis was almost sure he could  _love_  Harry, given some time! 

Yet he was hesitating. Why did the doubts decide to assault him now? Niall and Harry were put for lunch in that exact moment, and Louis was quite sure Niall would tell him about the breakup. After all, Randy was telling everyone, mostly to avoid the embarrassment of being cheated on. Louis felt like a coward for not being out there, telling Harry himself. 

"Lou, I'm back! You still in here?" Liam called, entering the flat. 

"Yes, I'm on the sofa." Louis answered, distracted. 

"Oh, Lou... Still getting consumed by thoughts?" Liam sighed, and sat down next to him. "You know, maybe I can help... When Zayn kissed me, I didn't know what to think. However, I'm pretty sure you already know that you like Harry, so what's blocking you?"

"I'm not sure... Part of me thinks that it's too soon, but after all Harry is the main reason why I left Randy, and I don't want to lose him... It's just- I haven't felt like this in a long time, so reckless and, well, what if after our kiss Harry doesn't want me anymore?"

After his last sentence, Liam swatted him. "Don't even try. Harry's been gone for you since day one. In fact, it would be horrible of you to not give him any type of closure!"

"It's not like he texted me of anything!" Louis tried to defend himself. Liam just gave him a stern look. "He  _kissed_  you! He's probably freaking out, the next move is yours."

Louis sighed. Then his mind went back to the exact moment he decided to return Harry's kiss. He felt shocked, but at the same hestatic. Yes, it might have been the alcohol, but it was undeniable that he'd wanted to kiss Harry for a long time. And then, the real thing... Leagues better than any kiss with Randy in the last year. He didn't want that kiss to be his only one, therefore he needed to act. Swallowing his worry, he sent a text:

_Hey... I really want to talk to you about Saturday night. Can we meet?_

"There, I texted him." Louis declared. 

"Good. Now I'll invite Zayn to dinner so you can also go get him." Liam announced, making shoo gestures. 

"But what if-" "No buts! I've witnessed you hurt for a relationship that was slowly dying, then suffer because you had feelings for Harry and didn't know what to do, now I'm not looking at you while you let this boy go!"

Motivated by Liam's improbable pep talk, Louis grinned wildly and grabbed his jacket, off to Harry's room. 

***

Harry was woken up by his phone, vibrating angrily on his bedside table. After lunch with Niall, he had felt too confused to do anything beside go back to the dorm and think. He must have fallen asleep. There was no sign of Zayn, but surely he'd left a note somewhere. Now, the phone. 

Harry almost did a double take when he noticed the caller ID: Louis.  _What the fuck_.

"Hello?"

"Oh, hi Haz... So, I'm, um, I'm like, outside the door?" 

" _What?!_ "

Harry ran to open the dorm door, without even putting on a t-shirt, and opened with his phone still against his ear. Sure enough, Louis was there, looking a bit breathless himself. Harry was so shocked that he almost dropped his phone. 

"Oops!"

"Hi." Louis just said, coy smile in place, like looking at Harry was giving him courage. 

"D'you, uh, want to come in?" Harry asked, still assessing the situation. Louis just nodded, closing the phone communication. 

They settled in Harry's room, Louis sitting on the desk and Harry on his bed. 

"Just in case Niall didn't tell you I broke up with Randy. Right... Well, right after you made me dinner." Louis started, blush creeping up his face. Harry nodded. Niall told him as much. 

"Why did you break up?" he asked, still refusing to hope. 

Louis looked up, taking a deep breath. "I couldn't be in a relationship with him anymore. I realised we had stopped loving each other, and that I was..." his gaze dropped to Harry again. "Distracted."

Harry's breath hitched. Just like that, with a simple word, the room had become hotter, and their usual tension, the pull for each other, was back. 

"So you were single when, when we kissed." Harry tried, eyes still locked. Just mentioning the kiss had him subconsciously licking his lips. Louis followed the gesture with his eyes. 

"Yes I was, but... But I would've kissed you anyway." Louis confessed, now looking down. "I've been wanted to kiss you for  _weeks_. I didn't do it because I was scared. Being in a relationship so long made me afraid of change, and instead you, you changed everything. And then, after we kissed, I wasn't sure you still wanted me."

"Lou," Harry stood up, reaching for Louis. "Louis, I've  _always_  wanted you. I want to kiss you all the time, you have no idea how many times I had to phisically stop myself because I didn't want to overstep any boundary, because I thought you were happy with Randy and-" Harry was stopped by Louis grabbing him by the neck and kissing him hard. He immediately melted in the kiss, wrapping his arms around Louis and feeling him lock his legs around his waist, pulling him close. 

"I want to be with you. I'm happy  _with you_." Louis whispered, like a secret, against Harry's neck. Then he proceeded to latch there and suck a faint bruise, while Harry groaned and sneaked his hands to Louis' jumper. "Off," he urged, reattaching his lips to Louis'.

Their kiss wasn't as desperate as the one in the club, but had a similar taste of longing and desire. Louis bit on Harry's bottom lip as he let the younger undress him, only pausing the kiss to took off his shirt. 

"You're so fucking hot, you have no idea..." Harry marvelled, finally able to look at Louis without restraints. He pulled Louis' head back almost forcefully, baring his neck and biting, sucking as many lovebites as he could, Louis' moans only fuelling him, until the older had to pull on his hair to recollect, panting harshly, a new collection of bruises blossoming on his neck and collarbones. Harry pulled back with a whimper, hair pulling working his magic as always.

Louis' eyes were burning when he commanded "Bed." in a heated tone, thighs clasping like vices on Harry's waist.  _God_ , Louis' thighs were weapons of mass destruction, and Harry still hadn't undressed those. He lifted Louis up and brought them back to his bed, thankfully only a few steps away. He didn't even give him time to adjust, hands already going to unbutton his jeans. 

"Can I suck you?" he asked, breathless already. Louis' answer consisted in a disbelieving groan. 

"Can you- of course, fuck, I can't even believe..." he trailed off, eyes rolling in the back of his skull. 

The thing was, it had been a while since Louis' last good blowjob. Therefore, when Harry's lips closed around the tip of his cock, sucking lightly, almost  _tasting_ , he'd like to be excused of he lost his  _goddamn_  mind. Because of course Harry was going to be a pro at that. 

"Holy  _fuck_ , Haz..." he was going to last, like, half a minute, and Harry had barely started. His comment made him smirk around his cock (how was that even  _possible_?!) and start taking as much as he could, pinning Louis' hips to the bed to prevent him from thrusting up. The older lad whined at that, hands clasping the duvet and legs twitching helplessly. Harry bobbed his head, flattening his tongue on Louis' sensitive underside and sucking in earnest. Louis moaned so loudly it probably reached the entire floor. 

"Haz, if you - _shit-_  keep doing that, we won't go much further..." Louis breathed out, close already. 

Harry smiled like the Cheshire Cat, giving Louis' cock a final lick, gathering some precome and smearing it on his lips. "Mmh, why? Wanna fuck me? Cum in me, get me as desperate for this as you are?" he teased, voice a slow drawl as he crawled back up to kiss Louis. The kiss this time was  _filthy_ , Louis' hands slipping under his sweatpants and groping his ass roughly, spreading his cheeks apart and making him groan in the kiss.

Then Louis rolled on the bed, swapping their positions. Now he was on top of Harry, ready to take control. "Oh, don't worry, I'll have plenty of time to make you desperate..." he said, trailing a finger from Harry's wet lips down to one of his nipples, then further down, following his happy trail. "I'd have you on your hands and knees, eat you out for  _hours_ , make you come so much you'll  _cry_..." he continued, voice steady, watching in interest as Harry bit his lip and his breath hitched. Louis hooked his finger on the hem of Harry's sweatpants and pulled them down just enough to uncover his leaking cock. "But for now, I'll just get inside you. I have a feeling you'll be tight and hot for me." Harry whimpered, turning to bite the pillow in frustration as Louis ran a single finger over the length of his cock. 

"Lube, love?" Louis asked, lightly, as if he didn't just make Harry's orgasm incredibly close with a couple of sentences. 

Harry fumbled to open the bedside table's drawer without sitting up, while helping Louis to  _finally_ took off his pants completely. 

Harry spread his legs almost immediately as soon as he was naked. He couldn't believe it was finally happening: he had Louis Tomlinson in his bed, naked, hard and ready to fuck him. He wanted to high five himself. 

Louis slicked his fingers, gaze focused on Harry's puckered hole. The temptation to just give in and have a taste was hard to resist, but they were both too keyed up to prolong things even more. So he pressed his index finger in, feeling the resistance. Harry moaned, long and breathy. Louis eased in the first finger, stroking Harry's cock with his left hand, a slow, loose motion that only left Harry wanting more.

"Fuck, it's fine, another." he pleaded almost immediately. "Just- just go on." 

Louis smirked as he added his middle finger, slowly pressing in only to pick up the pace abruptly and fuck inside. Harry arched his back obscenely and his eyes fell shut, a beautiful moan falling from his lips. 

"Oh,  _God_ Louis...  _Please, just fuck me_." he pleaded again, not caring if he was still a bit too tight, just craving the feeling of Louis in him. 

"Sure love, just tell me if it's too much." Louis leaned in for a wet kiss, then took off his fingers, Harry whimpering at the loss, and put on the condom that had been passed to him along with the lube. 

He pressed in slowly, feeling how tight Harry still was, clenched on him even while trying to relax. Louis tried to relax himself: it had been a while since he'd had good sex, probably even more since he topped, and it was hard not to fuck in, to keep steady and go slow to let Harry adjust. 

"Should've guessed you were thick..." Harry breathed out, with a small roll of his hips, getting more of Louis inside. That earned him a chuckle and a playful pinch on his nipples, making him utter a low whine. 

It didn't took much for Harry to get adjusted, after all he didn't mind a little burn to keep him grounded. 

"You can move." he told Louis, who exhaled a breath and leant down to kiss him, Harry's legs locking around his hips. 

Louis started as slow as he could, but he was too keyed up to wait for long. He dictated the rhythm of the kiss and adjusted to his hips, increasing the pace when Harry started rolling his hips to meet every thrust. 

"You feel so fucking good, babe, hot and tight, sucking me in..." Louis moaned on Harry's lips, readjusting the position to change the angle a bit, hoping to-

"Oh, fuck  _yes!_ " Harry mewled, toes curling in pleasure and hands immediately going to his clock, stroking quick. 

Louis smirked, and took a hold of his hips, to have a better grip and thrust in more roughly, now that he knew he was hitting Harry's prostate. He was already embarrassingly close, like sex with Harry was a mystical experience of some sort. 

"Fuck, I'm gonna come," he warned, but Harry only gave him a satisfied grin and clenched around him, hands still on his cock. 

Harry's milky skin was too pretty to leave it untouched, so Louis pulled out and got rid of the condom to jack off on him, like some kind of cheap porno. But Harry loved it, big hands closing around both of their shafts and stroking them together.

Louis came first, already close from before, splattering Harry's hips and abs, groaning in pleasure while maintaining eye contact. 

Harry  _gathered_ the come and used it to make everything slicker for him, while Louis slumped next to him and murmured filth in his ear. 

Harry came with a lovely high-pitched moan, thick stripes of come landing in his torso and adding to the mess. Louis lazily licked some that was close to his nipple, and Harry shivered, and cuddled closer.  

"That was..." he started, voice still a bit croaky. 

"Phenomenal? Ten out of ten would recommend?" Louis teased. Harry chuckled, pressing a kiss on his temple, just because he could. "Mmh, I don't know, I may have to try it a couple more time to judge properly..." 

"I'm pretty sure that can be arranged."

***

"...disgusting, let me tell ya, Harry's on cleaning duty for the rest of forever." Zayn concluded, stealing a falafel from Liam's plate. 

Niall cackled loudly, slapping his knee. "Oh, get used to it! Pretty sure Tommo is ruining his innocence!"

"His inn-?! Oh my dear Niall, my boyfriend is far from that! I've seen what's hidden in his drawer!" Louis immediately retorted, making Harry grin like a maniac for the term boyfriend and blush crimson for the allusion at his sex toys. 

"Who do you think helped me pick those? Zayn, here we go!" Harry defended himself, now making Zayn turn a little pink. 

"In conclusion, we're happy you've sorted your shit." Niall stated, and proposed a toast. 

"Wait! Louis, since we met at Fresher's Fair, would you call it... Fresher's  _Fate_?" 

Louis threw tzatziki sauce in his hair. 

**Author's Note:**

> Well, I hope you enjoyed! Just so you know, I made Harry study Biology because that's what I do, so all the facts are true, you can ask about it if you're interested!  
> On a side note, writing this made me crawl out of my terrible writer's block, so I'll update and finish my other works, you can check them out!  
> Kudos make awesome Christmas gifts!  
> 


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